Thing of the Day

POINO - last important album of 2010

December 27th 2010

Album: Poino Moan Loose (Horse Arm)

Slabs of nasty mathy goodness,
and from Sarf London, aren't they? The Poino sound is both beefy and
scratchy, an angular guitar between slices of fat and shifty bass with
a filling of snarling, sharp-edged enunciation. Feel the mouth ulcers.

There's
three of them, and the Poino experience contains an ex-member of the
once-promising Giddy Motors, that Gaverick, declaiming in a slightly
hysterical rather than laconic Mark E Smith style one minute, going off
all Beefheart the next, brushing the borders of Arab On Radar - and so
far Poino are delivering more than that giddy promise. Moan Loose
has the confidence and fame-rejecting honesty and sheer energy of the
better American underground - Dazzling Killmen, Colossamite, Sicbay,
early Dumb Ask-era Cheer Accident - in short, you'd expect them to be
on Skin Graft Records. Bit of Primus in there. There's something of a
UK heritage in their sound too, a proud, all too forgotton background
of Homage Freaks, Scissormen, Swervedriver - I was prepared to find at
least some connection with the much missed Optimist Club, but seems not
to be. There's something bleak and dangerous in there that stinks of
London and dirty creativity for its own sake. Good.

Moan Loose begins with it's strongest track, the thunderous and boldly structured Previous He. It kind of dominates what comes next, but they're all worth your attention. Bad Bag
reveals carefully crafted angles and its own demented logic; same for
Snakes Say Wow, and it sounds like might be worth seeing those lyrics
written down. By the latter end of the album Poino are showing some of
the depth underneath their bluster, getting seriously interesting with
a little gem of an instrumental, Watching The Kitchen Spider, that
would give Guapo a run for their money. They finish with a blast, the
knife-edged turns and sharp-toothed drumming of Sex Pesto.

All in, Moan Loose makes for a cheering blast of quality that has me looking forward to that next gig. Happy new year.